The prominent journalist from Kashmir Muzamil Jaleel returned from Srinagar to Delhi and what he had seen on the ground and in the streets of locked Valley.
“I have just come to Delhi from Srinagar. It is worst than in 1846. Srinagar is a city of soldiers and spools of concertina wire.
Yesterday, it took me three hours to reach office (Residency Road) from Parraypora. Phones – mobiles and landlines – have been disconnected. Internet is off. There is no money in ATMs. A very strict curfew has been imposed across Kashmir.
I could only move around with a lot of difficulty in uptown Srinagar. I have no information outside that small part of the city. However, I did hear there have been protests in old town Baramulla. A colleague received a text message on his dead phone – some glitch.
Everyone I met is in shock. There is a strange numbness. We heard about the killing of two protestors but there is no way to confirm. Kashmir has been turned invisible even inside Kashmir. The forces on checkpoints have specific instructions to disallow journalists to cross the barrier.
I saw a tv crew from Delhi inside a hotel outside Rajbagh Police station – they were saying Kashmir is calm.”